When was the first public assistance (welfare) program enacted? What kinds of assistance are provided through welfare? Who qualifies for welfare?
Answer:
An ideal response will:
1. Identify the first welfare program as being created in the late 1800s, when states established aid programs, called "mothers' pensions," to help poor single mothers and their children.
2. Discuss how public assistance now incorporates elements of job training, transportation subsidies, housing subsidies, free school lunches, food aid for poor families and pregnant mothers, and tax credits for low-income people.
3. Describe how welfare programs are means-tested, which means that applicants must disclose all financial assets and income to prove they fall below the poverty line, which in 2014 was an annual income of $23,850 for a family of four.
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